Envelop.



' PATENTED JAN. 6, 1903.

M. L. HINGHMAN.

ENVELOP. APPLICATION FILED MAY 17- 1. 2.

no MODEL.

F/vi bushes UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MORTIMER LIVINGSTON HINCI-IMAN, OF RUTLAND, VERMONT.

ENVELO P.

SPEGIFIGATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 717,993, dated January 6, 1903, Application filed May 17, 1902. Serial No. 107,821. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, MORTIMER LIVINGSTON I-IINCHMAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Rutland, in the county of Rutland 5 and State of Vermont, have invented new and useful Improvements in Envelops, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to en velops; and one of the objects thereof is to construct a-device of the character described whereby in the event of its being opened by any unauthorized person the fact that it has been tampered with may be readily detected.

A further object is to provide means whereby the envelop may be opened by tearing along certain lines, and thus avoid mutilation of the envelop or the letter contained therein.

With these objects in view the invention consists in an envelop or wrappercomprising a body portion and a sealing-flap, the former having an extended lower portion reaching nearly to the foldingline of the upper flap and secured with an adhesive material along its edges to the central body portion and provided with tearing-lines along the side edges thereof, preferably formed of perforations or indentations, the said sealing-flap being provided with an adhesive portion adapted to be sealed to the straight lines of perforations or indentations in the twoedges of the extended portions of the lower flap of the body portion.

The invention further consists in an envelop or Wrapper having asupplementaryportion of cardboard, bristol-board, or heavy paper in the shape of a triangle and which may be inverted and inserted between the extended double portions of the upper part of the envelop-body, so that its sides will reach down inside to the lines of perforations or indentations, so as to form a complementary under part of the upper flap and separated therefrom by the paper of the extended lower part of the body portion.

The invention further consists in the certain novel arrangement of parts, which will be fully explained hereinafter, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is an elevation of an envelop, showing the sealing-flap prior to sealing, the opener being illustrated in dotted lines. Fig. 2 is a plan View of the envelop, showing the same sealed, the parts being in position and the opener being illustrated as partly breaking the seal. Fig. 3 is a vertical cross-section through the envelop. Fig. 4 is a detail plan view of the opener.

The reference-numeral 1 designates an envelop the side flaps 2 and 3 of which extend to a point adjacent the top thereof, secured together by suitable adhesive material, the

flap 4, connected to the bottom of the envelop, extending to a point adjacent the top thereof and is secured to the said flaps 2 and 3 by an adhesive material on the lines 5 and 6. The adhesive line of the envelop is in the shape of an inverted triangle at the top, so that a triangular pocket 7 is formed by the flap 4 and the flaps 2 and 3. Along the upper line of the adhesive portion of the flap 4: is a plurality of indentations or perforations 8, which are arranged at or adjacent the bottom edges of the pocket 7.

9 designates the sealing-flap, which is connetted to the top edge of the body portion of the envelop and extends down and reaches near the edges of the line of perforations. The edges of the sealing-flap terminate at a point practically on the line and with said perforations or indentations, as will be explained hereinafter.

The reference-numeral 10 designates the opener, which is approximately in the form of a triangle, the obtuse angle 11 being designed to lie in the adjacent and lowermost point of the pocket, so that the point or angle of the opener may be forced through the lines of perforations to break the seal. This triangular opener is in the form of a supplementary piece of cardboard, bristol-board, or heavy thick paper, the edge being to supply a pointed substantial support under the joining-point of the perforations or indentations at the tip of the sealing-flap, so that when the envelop is taken in hand for opening, the

easily break the perforations or indentations at the point or place of meeting, and thereby readily provide a thumb-piece in instant-aneously ripping up the flap of the envelop along the lines of its perforations or indentations. This piece of cardboard, bristol board, or thick paper when dipped into a melted bath or fused solution made from any of the commercial oily solids and waxesthat is, when its surfaces are coated over with a thin covering of paraffin or anthracene, camphor,vegetable or animal tallow, stearin, palmitin, margarin, palm-oil, cocoanut-oil, nutmegbutter, kokum-tallow, beeswax, spermaceti, or, in fact, any material which may be fused at a low temperature-the device will perform an additional service of furnishing a detector against steaming open the envelop equipped with the same. If the device is employed as instructed and contemplated by me and steam is used to open such closure, the oily solid or wax that may be employed (preferably paraffin, because of its low cost) will fuse or melt at a temperature at or below the boiling-point of water when converted into steam under the influence and action of the heat units carried in the vapor. This will cause the material to diffuse itself in a greasy stain throughout the fibers of the surrounding paper composing the envelop, but within the limits and above the lines of perforations or indentations in such a manner as to show the stain at the lines of perforations also within the envelop without injury to its contents.

It will be seen from the foregoing that by the employment of my improved envelop or wrapper letters can be readily torn open without destroying the envelop as a closure, while correspondence or other communications are fully protected against unlawful examination while en route through the mail. Steaming up the flap, and thereby opening the envelop, will be readily detected on account of the greasy surfaces for rescaling, as new mucilage will not not readily stick to the same, and the receiver can readily note that the envelop has been unlawfully opened.

It will also be noted that there will be a greasy line along the line of perforations or indentations on the outside of the envelop. Also any attempt to open the envelop with a pencil, penholder, or other instrument will so tear the paper and perforations or indentations that a forcible entry can be easily detected. These unauthorized and unlawful openings of any form or any theft-therefrom will be unequivocally apparent to the postal authorities, employees, and agents before or at the time when the letter reaches its destination and is delivered to the party addressed.

I claim 1. An envelop provided with a triangularshaped pocket having a line of perforations or indentations along the bottom edges thereof,-and a piece of stiffened material seated in the said pocket and coated with a fusible material, said stiffened material being adapted to be forced through the line of perforations or indentations to break the seal of the envelop.

2. An envelop or wrapper comprising a body portion and a sealing-flap, the former having an extended lower portion reaching nearly to the folding-line of the upper flap and secured along its edges by an adhesive material to the central body portion and provided with tearing-lines along the said edges thereof, the said sealing-flap being provided with a gummed portion adapted to be sealed down to the straight tearing-lines in the two edges of the extended portion of the lower flap of the body portion, and a removable opener carried by the envelop and adapted to be forced through the sealing-flap at the tearinglines.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

MORTIMER LIVINGSTON HINOl-llllAN.

Witnesses:

F. R. KINSMAN, CHAS. KROUS. 

